JP2981635B2 - Color image recording device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to printing of a plurality of pages composed of color screens (hereinafter referred to as "separations") of respective colors obtained by separating an original image into a plurality of colors in one print cycle. The present invention relates to a color image recording device capable of outputting.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, when transferring images of a plurality of pages to a printer, image signals of respective pages are transmitted in a printing order through a single signal line. Further, when an image composed of a plurality of separations, such as a color image, is transferred to the printer, the image signals of each separation are sent via a single signal line in the order in which the printer transfers the separations to paper. For example, as disclosed in JP-A-2-6984 and JP-A-4-337752, in the conventional technique, the order of transfer of pages and separations when a printer prints an image is determined in one order. The image recording device transmitted the separations to the printer in the determined order.

[0003]

However, in recent years,
To increase the processing efficiency of a printer, for example,
As disclosed in US Pat. No. 3,337,752, printers for printing a plurality of pages in one print cycle have appeared. In such a printer, the number of prints in one print cycle and the order of transfer of pages and separations differ depending on the number of prints, the size of paper, and the print mode. There was a problem that it was not possible.

An object of the present invention is to obtain a normal print result for a specification in which the number of prints in one print cycle and the transfer order of pages and separations differ depending on the total number of prints and the size of paper. It is an object of the present invention to provide a color image recording apparatus adapted to be used. Another purpose is to add errors or prints,
An object of the present invention is to provide a color image recording apparatus capable of obtaining a normal print result with respect to a change in the number of prints or a transfer order of separation during printing.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a color image recording apparatus according to the present invention as defined in claim 1 is provided.
Image storage means for separating a color image to be recorded into M color images (M is an integer of M> 1) and storing the separated color images, and color images to be sequentially recorded based on the designated number of recordings of the color images Recording cycle setting means for dividing and setting an image for each of N recording cycles (where N is an integer satisfying N>1); and a color image to be recorded for each recording cycle set by the recording cycle setting means. A color image reading means for sequentially reading the corresponding color image of the same color N times from the image storage means, and performing the sequential N readings sequentially for the M colors in a predetermined color order M times; and the color image reading means. Color images of the same color sequentially read
A color image forming means for sequentially performing a process for forming each of the M colors on a sheet of recording paper, and controlling the color image reading means and the color image forming means in accordance with recording start instruction information; The above specified
And control means for performing the number of recordings for the number of recordings .

[0006] The invention described in claim 2 is the invention according to the claim 1, the abnormality detecting means for detecting the occurrence of an abnormality in the image forming process of the color image forming means, of the abnormal detecting means Abnormality is detected and the above
Image formation by N-color image forming means
Abnormality recovery means for re-dividing and setting the color images to be printed after K sheets (K is an integer satisfying K ≦ N) which have not been performed , according to the recording start instruction information The control means is configured to continue recording the K and subsequent color images based on the recording cycle reset by the abnormality recovery means.

Further, the invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the color image
The image reading means is based on a predetermined reading order of the color image.
Then, a color image is sequentially read from the image storage means.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, color images to be sequentially recorded are separated into N color cycles based on the number of recorded color images which are separated into M color images and stored. Divide and set. The control means controls the process of forming the color images of the same color sequentially read out on the N sheets of recording paper in order according to the recording start instruction information so as to sequentially perform the process for M colors. According to the second aspect of the invention, the occurrence of an abnormality in the image forming process is detected, and the image is not formed during the formation of the color image. Thereafter, when the abnormality is recovered, the color image to be recorded, on which the image formation has not been performed, is subdivided and set, and the recording is continued based on this recording cycle. According to the third aspect of the present invention, the color image reading unit sequentially reads out the color images from the image storage unit based on a predetermined reading order of the color images, and the control unit performs control for forming the color image.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, the configuration of the function realizing means of the color image recording apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows a block configuration having a function of performing a printing cycle of a color image to be sequentially printed a set number of times. The color image recording apparatus includes an image storage unit 100, a recording cycle setting unit 10
1, a color image reading means 102, a color image forming means 103, and a control means 104.

The image recording means 100 separates a color image to be recorded into M color images (M is an integer satisfying M> 1) and stores the color images. The recording cycle setting means 101 divides and sets the color images to be sequentially recorded for each of N recording cycles (N is an integer of N> 1) based on the designated number of recording color images. The color image reading means 102 sequentially reads the same color image corresponding to the color image to be printed from the image storage means 100 N times sequentially for each recording cycle set by the recording cycle setting means 101, Reading is sequentially performed M times for the stored M colors in a predetermined color order. The color image forming unit 103 sequentially performs the process of forming the same color image sequentially read out by the color image reading unit 102 on the N recording sheets for the stored M colors. The control unit 104 controls the color image reading unit 102 and the color image forming unit 103 in accordance with the recording start instruction information, and performs the recording of the recording cycle the number of times corresponding to the designated number of recordings.

According to the above arrangement, even if the separation transfer order at the time of printing is different depending on the number of prints, page size, print mode, etc.
The separations are transferred to the color image forming means in accordance with the separation transfer order. FIG. 2 shows a block configuration having a function of continuing recording of a color image based on a recording cycle reset by abnormal recovery. In this embodiment, the color image recording apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is provided with a function of continuing and restarting the recording after the abnormal recovery.

The color image recording apparatus is provided with an abnormality detection means 105 and an abnormality recovery means 107 as additional components. The abnormality detecting unit 105 is a color image forming unit 1
The occurrence of an abnormality in the image forming process 03 is detected. The abnormality recovery means 107 performs a recovery operation of the cause of the abnormality,
The print cycle setting unit 101 is instructed to set re-division of the color images to be printed after the K sheets for which image formation is prohibited.

In this color image recording apparatus, the control means 104 controls the color image reading means and the color image forming means in accordance with the recording start instruction information, and the color image reading means 102 is reset by the abnormality recovery means 107. Based on the recording cycle, the color images after the K sheets are sequentially read from the image storage unit 100 and transferred to the color image forming unit 103 to continue the recording. According to the above configuration, even if the separation transfer order at the time of printing is changed during printing due to the occurrence of an abnormality, the separation is transferred to the color image forming means according to the new transfer order of the separation at the time of printing restart. You.

The function of controlling the reading order of the stored color images can be added to the color image recording apparatus shown in FIGS. In this case, the color image reading unit is configured to sequentially read the color images from the image storage unit based on a predetermined reading order of the color images.

According to the above arrangement, even if the transfer order of the separation during printing is changed after entering the print cycle, the separation is transferred to the color image forming means in accordance with the new transfer order of the separation. You.

FIG. 3 shows a hardware configuration when a control system of a color image recording apparatus is constituted by a CPU system. In this embodiment, a color image recording apparatus is constituted by the image processing apparatus 1 and the printer 2. In FIG. 3, an image processing apparatus 1 decomposes a color image received from a computer connected to a computer network into black (K), yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) separations. Is converted to a raster image and transferred to the printer 2. The printer 2 superimposes and records (hereinafter, referred to as a print) the black, yellow, magenta, and cyan images received from the image processing apparatus 1 to generate a color image.

The image processing apparatus 1 includes a CPU 11, a memory 12, a memory controller 13, a disk 14, a network interface 15, and a printer interface 16. Here, the configuration is made up of one CPU, but in practice a plurality of CPUs may allocate and execute the processing. Further, components other than those described above may be present. The printer 2 includes, as main components, a system controller (SYS) 21, a user interface (UI) 22, an image recording device (IOT) 23 that actually prints an image, and converts a separation image according to the characteristics of the IOT 23. Image processing device (IPS) 24, interface unit (IFU) with image processing device 1
25 are included. Here, components other than those described above may be present. As an example, it is also possible to add an image reading device (IIT) for reading an image to the printer 2 so as to form a multifunction machine of a copier / printer.

The printer 2 is an electrostatic recording device, and is a mode in which one recording sheet is held on a transfer drum provided opposite to a photosensitive drum (hereinafter, referred to as a single unit).
And the mode of holding two sheets (hereinafter referred to as two-fingers)
It has two operation modes. In other words, the double-claw mode is a mode in which the sheet size is small enough to print two sheets at the same time and the number of remaining prints is two or more.
Print two sheets in one print cycle. At this time, as shown in FIG. 4B, the printer 2 transfers the separations in the order in which the data of the separations for two sheets are mixed, so that the separations need to be transferred in that order. In addition, in the single mode, one sheet is printed in one print cycle, and the separation is transferred in the order shown in FIG. here,
In the case of double-cutter, it is conceivable that only one sheet can be printed due to paper exhaustion or the like. In such a case, the printer 2 discards the separation data of the second page and changes the order of separation. No need. Then, after the printing is stopped, the printer 2
A status indicating that only one sheet has been printed is returned to the image processing apparatus 1. However, it is conceivable that some printers cannot read and discard the second page data. The correspondence for such a printer will be described in a third embodiment.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. When image data is sent from a computer on the network to the image processing apparatus 1, the image data is first stored on the disk 14. Then, the image data is divided into pages, separated into black, yellow, magenta, and cyan separations, converted into a raster image for each separation, compressed, and stored in the memory 12. Here, if the image can be reproduced with sufficient quality and the memory can be used efficiently, any compression method may be used. Of course, if there is a sufficient amount of memory to store the image, no compression is needed. A measure to be taken when a memory sufficient for storing all images cannot be secured will be described later.

Next, for each page of the image to be recorded, the number of pages printed as shown in FIG. 5 and data comprising pointers indicating image data of black, yellow, magenta and cyan separations in the memory 12 are shown. A structure is generated.
Here, the data structure of each page is stored in the memory in the form of a list 31 as shown in FIG. 6, and is managed in the order of printing. If you print a new page,
A new data structure is added to the end of the list 31.

Before starting printing, the image processing apparatus 1 calculates the number of prints of all pages in the list 31 and sends a command to the printer 2 to set the number of prints. At the same time, a mode such as paper selection is set by a command. Then, since the printer 2 determines whether to operate in the one-seat mode or the two-seat mode in accordance with the set contents, the image processing apparatus 1 inquires the printer 2 whether the operation mode is the one-seat mode or the two-seat mode.

When the operation mode is single,
From the head element of the list 31, the data is arranged so that the data is repeated by the number of prints. Then, the separation for each of the arranged data is shown in FIG.
The tables are arranged in the order shown in FIG. For example, when printing the list of FIG. 6, when the printer 2 operates in a single unit, a table as shown in FIG. 7 is generated.

In the case of a two-piece arrangement, the data is arranged such that the data is repeated by the number of prints from the first element of the list 31. Then, the separation is arranged for every two of the arranged data in the order shown in FIG. 4B to generate a table. For example, when printing the list of FIG. 6, if the printer 2 operates on two hooks, the table shown in FIG. 8 is generated.

When printing starts, the printer 2 requests the image processing apparatus 1 to transfer the separation by a page sync signal each time the transfer of the separation is started. The image processing apparatus 1 stores the memory 12 in each separation in accordance with the order of the table generated earlier.
Read compressed data from the printer interface 1
6 is transferred by DMA (direct memory access). The printer interface 16 expands the data, converts the data into an image signal, and sends the image signal to the printer 2. The expansion of the compressed data may be performed by either the printer interface 16 or another part inside the image processing apparatus 1.

In the processing on the printer 2 side, the image signal is sent to the IPS 24 via the IFU 25, and the IPS 24
After conversion according to the characteristics of the OT 23, the data is printed on a recording sheet by the IOT 23. Each time a print cycle is completed, the element corresponding to the printed page of the list 31, that is, the number of prints in the storage area of the corresponding memory is reduced. When the number of prints becomes zero, the data of the page is deleted from the list 31 and the memory storing the image data of the page is released. This memory can be used to store new pages, thus improving the efficiency of memory usage.

When the printing is stopped halfway due to an abnormality or the like, the printed page is deleted from the list 31, a new table is generated from the list 31, and the printing is restarted in the same procedure as the print start. You. At this time, since the pages already printed have been deleted from the list 31, only the remaining pages are printed.

FIG. 1 shows a procedure for deleting a print end page from the list 31 when printing has not been stopped.
This will be described with reference to FIG. First, the number of prints of the first element of the list 31 is reduced by one. Next, it is determined whether or not the number of prints of the first element is "0". If Yes, the first element is deleted from the list. Then, it is determined whether or not all the pages to be printed have been deleted. On the other hand, if No, the number of prints of the page that is the first element after the list 31 is reduced by 1, the above operation is repeated, and the pages that have been printed are sequentially listed in the list 31
Remove from.

Referring to FIG. 13, a description will be given, with reference to FIG. 13, of a procedure for deleting a print-completed page from the list 31 when printing is stopped halfway due to an abnormality or the like. First, it is determined whether there is a printed page. If the determination is Yes, the number of prints of the first element of the list 31 is reduced by one. Next, it is determined whether or not the number of prints of the first element is “0”.
If es, the first element is deleted from the list. And
Judge whether or not all printed pages have been deleted.
If es, return. On the other hand, if No, list 3
The number of prints of the first element of 1 is reduced by 1, the above operation is repeated, and the printed page is deleted from the list 31.

Each time a print cycle is completed,
Instead of releasing the page, when the printing operation is completed or interrupted, the page for which printing has been completed can be released all at once. However, in this case, the use efficiency of the memory deteriorates. Also, the use of virtual storage can make up for the small memory capacity. Since the image data only needs to exist in the memory 12 during the transfer to the printer 2, the separation before transfer is saved to the disk 14, and when it is determined that the transfer timing is close by referring to the above-described table, the separation is performed. Memory 1
Move to 2. If the memory occupied by the page for which printing has been completed is released, this memory can be used for storing the saved page. In this way, even if image data of all pages cannot be stored in the memory 12 at one time, transfer can be performed.

Embodiment 2 The hardware configuration of Embodiment 2 is the same as that of Embodiment 1 shown in FIG. A feature of this embodiment is that the printer 2 has a function of adding a print of a new page even when the printer 2 is in a print operation. The operation of the present embodiment is obtained by adding the operation of the function added to the operation of the first embodiment (see FIG. 11). Here, only the operation of the characteristic portion of the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the flowchart shown in FIG.
Since the procedures in FIGS. 12 and 13 have been described in the first embodiment, they will not be described here.

When a new page is added during printing by the printer 2, an element corresponding to the page is added to the list 31, and the end of the print cycle being executed is awaited. When the print cycle is completed, a new table is generated, the number of prints is changed in the printer 2, the next print cycle is started, and the separation is transferred in the order of the new table.

Third Embodiment The hardware configuration of the third embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment shown in FIG. This embodiment is provided with a function capable of changing the separation transfer order during printing.
That is, the printer 2 of the present embodiment is a two-piece process,
When only one sheet can be printed due to a paper exhaustion or the like, the processing automatically shifts to one-piece processing. By the way, in the image processing apparatuses of the first and second embodiments, in the above-mentioned situation, the separation transfer is performed by one hook even though the printer is operated by two hooks, and a normal print result is obtained after the abnormal state is recovered. Can not be obtained.

In order to solve such a problem, the present embodiment uses the following method. That is, the image processing apparatus measures the time from the start of transfer of one separation to the start of transfer of the next separation.
Since two prints are performed in one print cycle in the case of two hooks, the number of separations per print cycle is twice that in the case of a single hook. Therefore, the interval between two transfers is shorter for two hooks than for one hook. Therefore, if the transfer of the next separation does not start even after the time when the transfer of the next separation should start when the two-piece operation is performed, it is determined that the transfer is one-piece and the order of the separation is changed as shown in FIG. Sorted like
Transfer the remaining separations.

In the present embodiment, the transfer is started from the separation of the second sheet in the case of two sheets, so the page order is reversed when automatically shifting to the single sheet. There is no problem if the contents of the two reversed pages are the same, but if the contents are different, the page corresponding to the second page is output without outputting the page corresponding to the first page.
For example, assuming that the second print cycle in FIG. 10 automatically shifts to a single print cycle, only pages 1, 2, and 4 are output, and page 3 is not output. In this case, since the head element among the remaining elements in the list 31 corresponds to the page for which no output has been made, this element is left and the next element is deleted.

Next, the operation of the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. Note that the operation before the print stop is the same as the operation of the first embodiment (FIG. 11), and therefore, only the operation after the print stop will be described here. In the flowchart shown in FIG. 15, the procedure of FIG. 9 has been described in the first embodiment, and thus the description is omitted here.

When the printing is stopped, the procedure shown in FIG. 16 is executed, and the printed page is deleted from the list 31. Then, a table is generated from the list 31. Thereafter, the print restart is checked, and if possible, printing is started. The procedure for stopping printing is to first determine, if there is a printed page, whether only the second page has been printed with two hooks. In the case of Yes, it is determined whether or not the number of prints of the first element of the list 31 is “1”. In the case of “1”, the number of prints of the second element of the list 31 is reduced by one. If the number of prints of the second element is "0", the second element is deleted from the list 31 and the routine returns. If the number of prints of the second element is not "0", the routine returns. On the other hand, list 31
If the number of prints of the first element of is not "1", the number of prints of the first element of the list 31 is reduced by 1 and the routine returns.

In the case where only the second sheet is not printed by two, the number of prints of the first element of the list 31 is reduced by 1, and then the number of prints of the first element is "0".
Is determined. In the case of “0”, the head element is deleted from the list 31. When the printed page is deleted from the list 31, the process returns. In each of the above embodiments of the present invention, an electrophotographic printer is used, but any transfer method may be used as long as the separation is transferred one sheet at a time. Also, the number of separations per page and the order of separation transfer may be different. Further, the computer and the image processing apparatus 1 may be connected without passing through a network, or the image processing apparatus 1 may be connected to a plurality of networks.

Further, in this embodiment, 2
Although division is performed every recording cycle of sheets, when a transfer member that holds N or more than two sheets is used, division can be performed every N recording cycles. Then, when an abnormality is detected, by discriminating how many sheets have been printed normally, the N and subsequent prints not printed in the recording cycle are restarted.

Further, when the recording paper size is different for each page, and one and two sheets are mixed for each page or when the number of separations for each page is different, Also, by performing the same processing as the abnormal recovery processing for the insertion of a dummy cycle due to the switching of the recording color, etc., it is possible to print all pages without interrupting the printing operation.

[0040]

According to the present invention, the number of prints in one print cycle and the order in which the separations are transferred by the printer differ depending on the number of prints, paper size, print mode, etc. Separations can be transferred in the order of transcription,
A normal image can be obtained. Further, even if the number of prints or the transfer order of separation is changed during printing due to an error or addition of a print, a normal print result can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a function realizing unit according to the first aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a function realizing means according to the invention described in claim 2;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a recording system including an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are explanatory diagrams of (a) the order of separation transfer when the operation mode is one, and (b) the order of separation transfer when the operation mode is two.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a data structure for storing the address of image data of each separation of a page and the number of prints.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the structure of a list for managing the order of pages.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the order of separation transfer in the case of a single unit.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the order of separation transfer in the case of two hooks.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a transition from two hooks to one hook;

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining page switching when shifting from two to one.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the first embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a procedure for deleting a printed page from a list 31 when printing is not stopped halfway in the first to third embodiments.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a list of pages that have been printed when printing is stopped halfway in the first and second embodiments.
It is a flowchart of a procedure process of deleting from a.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the second embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the third embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of a procedure for deleting a print-completed page from a list 31 when printing is stopped in the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image processing apparatus, 2 ... Printer, 11 ... CPU, 12
... Memory, 13 ... Memory controller, 14 ... Disk, 15 ... Network interface, 16 ... Printer interface, 21 ... System controller (SYS), 22 ... User interface (U
I), 23 ... Image output unit IOT, 24 ... Image processing unit (I
PS), 25 ... interface unit (IFU),
31: List for managing the order of pages

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Fumihiko Shibata 2274 Hongo, Fujigo Rocks, Ebina City, Kanagawa Prefecture (72) Inventor Hiroshi Ishikawa 2274 Hongo, Hongo, Ebina City, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (58) Surveyed fields (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) H04N 1/00 H04N 1/23-1/29 H04N 1/46 H04N 1/50 B41J 2/525

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A color image to be recorded has M colors (M is M> M).
An image storage unit that separates and stores each color image of 1), and N color images to be sequentially recorded based on the designated number of recordings of the color images (N is an integer of N> 1) Recording cycle setting means for dividing and setting each recording cycle; and for each recording cycle set by the recording cycle setting means, color images of the same color corresponding to the color images to be recorded are sequentially read from the image storage means. A color image reading means for reading the image N times and the reading of the N colors sequentially in the predetermined color order for the M colors sequentially; and a color image of the same color sequentially read by the color image reading means on N sheets of recording paper. A color image forming means for sequentially performing a process for forming each of the M colors, a color image reading means and a color image forming means in accordance with recording start instruction information And control means for controlling the recording cycle and performing the recording in the recording cycle the number of times corresponding to the designated number of recording sheets . 2. An abnormality detecting means for detecting occurrence of an abnormality in an image forming process of said color image forming means ;
No image formation in N image formation by means
Abnormality recovery means for re-dividing and setting the K or more (K is an integer satisfying K ≦ N) color images to be recorded by the recording cycle setting means, and the control means according to recording start instruction information. 2. The color image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein recording of the K or more color images is continued based on a recording cycle reset by the abnormality recovery unit. 3. The color image reading means according to claim 1 , wherein
3. A color image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a color image is sequentially read from said image storage means based on a predetermined image reading order .